Ward Councillor Update - October 2025

Local Government Reorganisation

On 20

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November Rutland Councillors will debate the options for Local Government Reorganisation and have an indicative, non binding vote on which proposal to support. This will follow the Scrutiny Committee meeting on 16

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October when the proposals and the feedback from residents will be considered. The public can watch these meetings online or attend in person. As reported in the July edition Rutland was included in three different interim plans submitted to national government in March:

• a three-unitary model covering the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland area, which could see us form part of a new council serving North Leicestershire and Rutland

• one of several options in the Greater Lincolnshire area interim plan, which could see us join with North Kesteven, South Kesteven and South Holland

• an option being tabled by Leicester City Council, which could expand the city boundaries and include Rutland in a single Leicestershire unitary

Residents have expressed a strong desire to retain Rutland’s name and identity, especially for tourism and business and to see council tax reduced but do have concerns about losing local representation and influence, seeing a decline in quality and accessibility of services and Rutland not receiving a fair share of funding or infrastructure investment in a larger local authority. I share these concerns but this will be the case regardless of which proposal is submitted and finally adopted as Rutland will be part of a much larger unitary authority from April 2028. The Government is pressing on with the process on the basis that it will save money in the longer term (I am not convinced by this argument!) and has said it will use legislation if needed. We are currently reviewing comparative models of what these re-organisation proposals will mean for Rutland. Due to our geography, there is a split in the county between those favouring grouping with Leicestershire areas and those preferring combining with Lincolnshire districts. Ultimately this will mean Rutland will either be included in the Lincolnshire combined Mayoral Authority or be part of a new one (yet to be fully defined) including Leicestershire and Leicester City. These Mayoral Authorities will have devolved powers and funding from Government. There are no easy answers and great uncertainty about what these new structures will deliver but please be assured that I will consider all the proposals, based on the data, and vote on what I believe provides the best option for Rutland residents. In the meantime council business as usual continues. I will be at the pub on Wednesday 15

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October from 18:00 until 20:00. Do come and see me there or get in touch by email or telephone if I can help with any issues. Best wishes  

www.rutland.gov.ukCounty CouncillorWhissendine Ward01664 474257rpowell@rutland.gov.uk Rutland County Council Customer Service Centre: 01572 722 577